Steam boiler



April 12, 1932. w. I WENDERHOLD STEAM BOILER 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 8, 1929 Us, I I

v INVENT ATTORNEY April 12, 1932. w. WENDERHOLD Filed 3. 1929 Patented Apr. 12, 1932 UNITED. sra'rss PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM WENIDERHOLD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO ELIZABETH MESSER, OF NEW YORK, INQY.

smart BOILER Application filed November 8,1929. Serial in. 405,647.

This invention relates to boilers. and in particular to a high pressure steam boiler adapted for automotive vehicles.

Generally speaking, an object of the present invention is to provide a highly efiicient steam generating unit of compact form, of minimum weight for its steam generating capacity and adapted to be readily accommdat-- ed to the chassis of an automotive vehicle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a steam boiler for automotive or other use having two spaced apart compartments and independent sets of tubes, the water being heated first entering the compartment more remote from the combustion chamber and then passing to the compartment located nearer the combustion chamber so that the maximum amount of heat will be absorbed from the gases of combustion.

Other objects relating to certain details of construction and arrangement of parts will be hereinafter set forth or will become apparent upon reading this specification.

A feature of importance is a superheater for the steam, this superheater preferably being disposed between two heating compartments and being so formed that it will permit any water of condensation within the superheater to drain back into one of the compartments. Another feature which is advantageous'is the provision of separated heating compartments, the water first being admitted within the compartment located more remote from the combustion chamber or fire-box and heated so that mineral salts and other impurities in the water will be precipitated within this compartment. As this compartment is more remote from the combustion chamber and is H) in contact only with gases of combustion after they have been somewhat cooled by their pa'ssage through the bank of tubes within the second or lower compartment and through the superheater, the temperature of the first compartment is ,not extremely high. The precipitates from the water therefore are not baked to a hardcrust or scale, but form a sludge or deposit which may readily be removed by periodically flushing the compartment.

Other features of importance relating to various structural detalls, arran ement of parts, etc., will be hereinafter set orth.

With these and other objects and advantages in view my invention includes the features of construction and operation set forth in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings annexed I hereto and forming a part of this specificat1on I have shown my invention embodied in a compact steam pressure boiler of the fire tube type for automotive vehicles, but it will be understood that certain features of the invention can be otherwise embodied, and that 06' upon. the planes of broken line 2-2 of Fig. 7

1; and

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken upon the plane of line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

In the above mentioned drawings I have shown but one embodiment of the invention which is now deemed preferable, but it is to be understood that changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claim without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Referring more in detail to the figures of the drawings, I provide two superposed pressure compartments '10 and 11. These com partments 10 and 11 comprise shells 12 and 13 respectively, the ends of these members being closed by tube sheets 14 and 15. The tube sheets 14 and 15 may be welded directly to their shell members 12 and 13. Within these two compartments 10 and 11 are disposed tubes 16 and 17 substantially uniformly spaced throughout the compartments. The tubes 16 and 17 in the two chambers 10 and 11 may be aligned relatively to each other, that is, each tube in the lower compartment 10 may have its counterpart in the up er compartment 11 aligned with it.

urroun ing the. cylindrical surfaces of the shell members 12 and 13 are bands of metal 18 welded directly thereto *and disposed adjacent the opposite ends of the cylindrical portions. These bands 18 reinforce the shells or pressure com artments of the boiler and some may have anges 19 welded upon their end faces. By means of fastening means attached to these flanges 19, the burner unit 20 may be held in position against the lower end of the unit, the compartments 10 and 11 held in spaced apart relation, and additional auxiliaries may be secured.

The two compartments 10 and 11 are rigidly but detachably held in spaced relation to each other by screws 21 engaging overlapin flanges 19, only two of the screws being indicated. By these means it is possible to conveniently assemble the two compartments 10 and 11 or disassemble them for necessary retubing or other maintenance operations. As the compartments 10 and 11 are adapted for operation at high pressures, the cylindrical surfaces of the members 12 and 13 may be wound with suitable wire 22 as is the usual ractice in connection with these boilers. The bands 18 mounted adjacent the ends of members 12 and 13 may serve as abutments for the opposite ends of the windings.

Within the space between the two compartments 10 and 11 is disposed a flat spirally wound coil 23 of tubin formin a superheater as will be herea ter described. The convolutions of this coil 23 are suitably s aced from each other so that gases from the combustion chamber passing upwardly through the tubes 16 within the compartment 10 pass around the convolutions of this superheater and thereafter pass through the tubes 17 within the upper compartment 11. As will be seen in Fig. 1 the coil 23 has its convolutions supported by radial supporting brackets having inclined upper surfaces so that the coil is slightly dished and any water oi condensation formed within the superheater 23 will be allowed to drain back into the lower compartment 10.

The burner mechanism 20 is secured directly to the lower end of the lower compartment 10 by strap members 240i which but one is shown. These strap members 24 have their upper ends attached to one of the flanges 18, the lower ends having lugs 25 engaging under a portion of larger diameter of burner mechanism 20.

Surrounding the wire wound portions of the compartments 10 and 11 and the flanges '19 connecting the compartments together is a heavy layer of asbestos 26 or other heat insulating material around which may be provided any suitable sheet metal protecting cover 27 giving a finished appearance to the outside of the boiler and holding the insulation in place.

Above the upper compartment 11 are the exhaust passages 28 .for the gases of combustion, these passages being formed by a heavily insulated wall 29 enclosing the entire upper end of the boiler and being attached by suitable means to the sheet metal covering 27 around the upper portion of the boiler. The exhaust chamber or passage 28 has a removablecover portion 30 centrally disposed and held in place as shown by a flange surrounding this cover. By removing this cover 30 access may be had to the top of the upper compartment lO for removal of any deposits that may be formed therein and for an inspection of the upper portions of the boiler. The complete assembly enclosed by the combustion chamber 20, the compartments 10 and 11 and the exhaust passage wall 29, form a complete self-contained steam generating unit adapted for highly eflicient operation.

-lVater is admitted to the boiler at one or more points as indicated at 31 in the lower portion of the upper compartment 11, the entire compartment, or substantially all of this compartment bein filled with water and maintained filled with water from this source. From this upper compartment 11 the water at a high temperature is admitted to the lower compartment through a central distributor 32 inserted within the upper portion of the upper compartment 11. This distributor 32 is shown more clearly in Fig. 2 and comprises a capstan form of fitting having six radiating couplings 33, five of these being connected by curved pipes 34 to downwardly extending pipes 35 extending within and reaching to the lower portions of the lower compartment 10. By thus providing for the delivery of the feed water to spaced apart points in the compartment 10 I avoid the unequal expansion strains which would result from the entrance at a single point of a quantity of comparatively cold water. It will be noted that six radiating branches are provided in the distributor 32 for the five connecting pipes 34 to the, lower compartment. The sixth radiating coupling 33 is plugged ofl and the space which would be occupied by a curved pipe 34 connected thereto is taken by the exhaust passages 28 for the products of combustion, this passage 28 preferably being left free. As the disposition of the five curved pipes 34 is rendered unsymmetrical by the omission of a sixth pipe a distributor fitting 32 having couplings spaced unsymmetrically in the same manner would be required to be rotated one complete turn to accommodate itself to the curved pipes. By the interposition, as shown in Fig. 2, of the sixth coupling in the distributor it is only necessary to rotate the fitting 32 one-sixth of a revolution to bring the branches and their couplings 33 into position for coupling to the curved pipes 34.

The downwardly extending pipes pass through enlarged tubes or sleeves 36 in which they have freedom of movement. --A threaded portion on the pipes 35 enables them to'be tightly threaded into the compartment 10, their ends, preferably of reduced diameter extending substantially to the bottom of this compartment.

From the upper portion of the lower chamber 10 the steam is admitted through a central elbow fitting 37 to the inner convolution of the spirally coiled superheater 23, the out er convolution. being'attached to a special steam outlet fitting 38 extending through the flanges 19 between the two compartments 10 and 11. i

To facilitate removal of the entireboiler from its position within a vehicle or other form of support a central rod 39 is secured at its lower end to the bottom sheet of the upper compartmentll. The upper end of this bar or rod 39 extends centrally through the distributor 32 sufficiently to enable an eye bolt or other coupling (not shown) to be screwed upon its upper threaded end. By this rod 39 equipped with an eye bolt'the en tire boiler unit may be lifted by a suitable crane or hoist. When the boiler is in operation the extended threaded end of this central bar or rod 39 is enclosedby a protecting cap 40 threaded upon the rod 39 and made steam tight with respect to the distributor by a suitable gasket.

The sludge or precipitate formed within the upper compartment 11 may be removed through a bottom blow out opening such as shown at 41. To blow out-the lower compartment '10, openings may be provided in fittings as shown at 42 at the lowermost portion of the compartment, one constituting part of a bottom blow oil and another provided with an upstanding pipe 43 extending to about the normal water level constituting a skimmer or surface blow off.

To retain the unit in position upon the vehicle or support, a number of rods 44 are provided extending to suitable attaching or fastening means below the unit. The upper in the water will be deposited'in theupper p ends of these rods 44, but one being shown,

, are bent inwardly and engage within a notch or groove formed in a retaining. plate 45. These plates 45 are or may be disposed at suitably spaced intervals about the upper compartment 11 and have their upper ends engaging over the upper band 18.

It will be seen that I have provided a compact boiler of light weight, which is relatively cheap tomanufacture, easy to assemble, and which willoperate at high efficiency. During nprmal operation, cold water enters the upper compartment as at 31 where it is preliminarily heated by the gases after they have passed the superheater. -As heretofore stated, most of the scale forming impurities compartment and may be periodically blown off through the bottom blow off 41. The preheated water from the upper compartment 11- passes, as required, through the fitting 32, pipes 34 and 35,into the lowercompartment. From the lower compartment, steam passes through the superheater and thence to the engine. Since most of the scale forming impurities are deposited in the upper or preheating compartment 11, there will be little scale formed in the lower compartment 10 and due to the comparative absence of scale in the lower compartment, the maximum amount of heat is extracted from the gases of combustion.

The curved pipes 34-34 flex sufficiently to take care of expansion and contraction due to changing temperatures, and thus the joints are not likely to break or become loose. The entire unit may be easily raised by means of a crane or hoist through the medium of the lifting bar 39. Since this bar is supported independently'of the fitting 32, there are no strains coming upon parts which are likely to be broken or loosened during setting of the boiler or lifting the same. The entire as sembly may be very readily and securely held in place and with equal ease loosened and removed from its setting; If desired, the burner unit may be carried directly by the boiler and set and removed therewith as a unit.,

While one practical embodiment of the in vention has been disclosed, it is to be understood that various changes, additions, and

with said' steam space and disposed between said drumand said feed water heater in the path of said products of combustion, a pipe for feeding water to said feed water heater, a conduit for passing preheated water from said water heater to said drum having a plurality of branches extending from a common pipe at, the top of said water heater into the lower portion of the drum at spaced apart points near the peripheral portions thereof,

thereby providing uniform heating and steam generation, said branches com rising sinuous portions extending laterally rom said common pipe in heat transferring relation with products of combustion issuing from the fire tubes of said water heater, and portions passing through said heater and to said drum.

WILLIAM WENDERHOLD. 

